Canadians want people in jail for pot possession pardoned, Forum Research poll suggests

Half of Canadian voters believe people in jail for marijuana possession should be released and those with criminal records for pot possession pardoned, new polling shared with The Free Press suggests.

That percentage rises among the young, the low-income, the highly educated, and, not surprisingly, the 47 per cent of survey respondents who’ve taken a few tokes themselves, the Forum Research survey found.

The findings come as the clock ticks down on the Trudeau government’s tricky election campaign vow to legalize marijuana, with legislation expected next spring.

Health Minister Jane Philpott has said the law will keep pot “out of the hands of children and profits out of the hands of criminals,” but the Liberals have stopped short of saying they’d wipe out the criminal records of Canadians already convicted of marijuana possession, as NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair has urged.

Canadians with records for pot possession, especially the young, can pay dearly, including being turned away at the United States border and being ineligible for some jobs.

But while “on the surface” it might seem like it makes sense to erase convictions for an act that, if the government delivers what it has promised, will no longer be a crime, the issue is much more complicated than that, a London criminologist says.

Paul Whitehead of Western University said many people left with criminal raps for pot possession enter the justice system charged with worse, but end up with lighter convictions.

“When you look at the convictions, it looks like you have a whole lot of people with jail sentences for simple possession,” he said. “But a lot of marijuana possession convictions are people who were carrying enough to be charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, but pleaded guilty to the lesser offences. That’s a good reason not to issue pardons,” he said.

Already, anticipating the federal government’s liberalization of marijuana laws, some cities have seen an explosion of pot shops and some observers have wondered how the government will disentangle Canada from international treaties on illegal drugs in which marijuana figures.

Pardons are more likely to be issued on an individual basis to people who apply for them and can prove they’ve met certain criteria — for example, that they’ve been law-abiding citizens for a number of years.

Officially called “record suspensions,” pardons seal a criminal record to allow offenders who have lived crime-free to reintegrate, get better jobs and travel abroad.

Forum Research asked a random sampling of more than 1,400 Canadians whether they agreed with pardoning previous convictions and immediately ending sentences for those found guilty of marijuana possession.

Forty-nine per cent agreed, 35 per cent disagreed and the rest said they didn’t know.

“Remember, all this is occurring within a culture and a time frame where the move is toward legalization, so on the surface it would make sense to cancel out those previous convictions, but I don’t think they should,” Whitehead said of the Liberals.

In April, as Philpott outlined the government’s marijuana legalization plan at the United Nations, Mulcair added his voice to those calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to remove criminal records for the thousands of people living with the consequences of pot possession convictions.

Trudeau hasn’t made any promises on record suspensions, but has struck a task force to examine the issues around legalization.

“Lots of people who sell marijuana sell other kind of drugs as well. If the objective remains one of keeping it out of hands of children and adolescents, you don’t hurry to cancel out pardons for people who were arrested for possession for the purpose of trafficking,” said Whitehead, who also dismissed the government’s theory that legalizing weed will make it easier to regulate and keep from children.

“You can’t normalize it for normal, healthy adults without increasing the accessibility and availability for children and adolescents,” he said

But London Liberal MP Peter Fragiskatos said children are the very reason pot must be made legal.

“We need legislation that’s going to enforce strict regulation and restricted access in order to ensure that we keep marijuana out of the hands of young people,” said the London North Centre MP.

“In Canada, we have one of the highest rates of youth marijuana use in the developed world. That’s areal concern for families,” he said.

A 2009 study by the World Health Organization found 23 per cent of Canadian teens used marijuana.

“We need strict regulation that restricts access,” said Fragiskatos. “We also have to take control of the production and distribution of marijuana out of the hands of organized crime groups.”

Both Fragiskatos and London West Liberal MP Kate Young said they look forward to the recommendations from the nine-member, federal-provincial task force the government has struck to examine pot legalization.

Headed by former federal Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan, the panel also includes experts in law enforcement and public health.

“It’s not as if we are ignoring the issue of pardons, but that is something for the task force to look at,” Fragiskatos said.

“I’m not an expert when it comes to marijuana legislation and the legal regimes around it. I want to allow the task force to examine issues around legalization including the issues of pardons.

“I would hope very much that the task force assesses pardons.”

About the survey

— Forum Research surveyed a random sampling of 1,429 voting-age Canadians by phone last Tuesday.

— Results of the poll are considered accurate to within three per cent, plus or minus, 19 times out of 20.